Book List

This is an ever-changing booklist specifically for books about women in Buddhism. These books cover various aspects of that theme including, but not limited to:

~The life stories of great female practitioners and teachers in Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Tibetan Buddhism

~How women have been regarded in the Buddhist cultures of Thailand, China Japan, Burma, Tibet and India, both as lay people and as ordained nuns

~Who are female deities? What is their role and how 'female' are they?

~The intersection of traditional Buddhist patriarchy and modern Western feminism

I have read about 80% of these books and recommend some of them highly. Since I often speak about the life of Machig Labdron in my concerts, the books that feature her in some way are starred.

A printable version (in pdf format) of this list is available here. If you have suggestions, please email me! RavennaM@gmail.com

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1) Being A Buddhist Nun: The Struggle for Enlightenment in the Himalayas - Kim Gutschow

2) Blossoms of the Dharma: Living as a Buddhist Nun - ed. Thubten Chodron

3) Buddhism After Patriarchy: A Feminist History, Analysis and Reconstruction of Buddhism - Rita M. Gross

4) Cave in the Snow: One Woman's Quest for Enlightenment - Vicki McKenzie

5) Charming Cadavers: Horrific Figurations of the Feminine in Indian Buddhist Hagiographic Literature ? Liz Wilson

6) *Chod in the Ganden Tradition: The Oral Instructions of Kyabje Zong Rinpoche ? ed. David Molk

7) Courtesans and Tantric Consorts ? Serenity Young

8) Dakini's Warm Breath: The Feminine Principle of Tibetan Buddhism - Judith Simmer-Brown

9) Dipa Ma: The Life and Legacy of a Buddhist Master - Amy Schmidt

10) Female Buddhas: Women of Enlightenment in Tibetan Mystical Art ? Glenn H. Mullin and Jeff J. Watt

11) Himalayan Hermitess: The Life of a Tibetan Buddhist Nun - Kurtis R. Schaeffer

12) How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator - Thubten Chodron

13) Innovative Buddhist Women: Swimming Against the Stream - ed. Karme Lekshe Tsomo

14) In Praise of Tara: Songs of the Saviouress ? Martin Willson

15) Lady of the Lotus Born: The Life and Enlightenment of Yeshe Tsogyal - trans. Gyalwa Changchub

16) *Machig Labdron and the Foundations of Chod - Jerome Edou

17) *Machik's Complete Explanation: Clarifying the Meaning of Chod - Sarah Harding

18) Making Fields of Merit: Buddhist Nuns and Gendered Orders in Thailand ? Monica Lindberg Falk

19) Passionate Enlightenment - Miranda Shaw

20) Pure Heart, Enlightened Mind - Maura O'Halloran

21) Sakyadhita, Daughters of the Buddha - ed. Karme Lekshe Tsomo

22) Servants of the Buddha: Winter in a Himalayan Convent - Anna Grimshaw

23) Songs of the Sons and Daughters of the Buddha - trans. Schelling & Waldman

24) Tibetan Buddhist Nuns - Hanna Havnevik

25) Women in Buddhism: Images of the Feminine in the Mahayana Tradition ? Diana Paul

26) Women in Tibet - ed. Hanna Havnevik and Janet Gyatso

27) *Women of Wisdom - Tsultrim Allione

28) Women of the Way: Discovering 2,500 Years of Buddhist Wisdom - Sallie Tisdale

29) Women Under Primitive Buddhism - I.B. Horner

30) Women's Buddhism, Buddhism's Women - ed. Ellison Findley Banks